Pearl Jam - Comcast Center June 30, 2008

Pearl Jam
Comcast Center
Mansfield, MA
Monday, June 30, 2008
Support: Ted Leo and the Pharmacist


It has been countless times, not more than many folks, but still last night was my ninth time seeing Pearl Jam. It began in 91 when a "Who the hell is Pearl Jam" opened up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers/Smashing Pumpkins show at the Walter Brown Arena over at Boston University. Times have changed, but the band has only gotten stronger over the years. Even with my review of both the Stevie Wonder and Dianogah show(s) due to be posted, I went ahead and did this while it was really fresh in the brain.


The band, who sold out Saturday night as well, took the stage about 8:45. This was the final show of a short burst of shows. Often times, at least in the minds and opinions of the fans, the second show in a city is often better. We all sort of knew we were in for it when the band opened the show up with "Wash". The crowd would not be let down from here on in.

My seats were very close and off to guitarist Stone Gossards side as you can tell by the picture(s) there were a few decent moments to capture.



For the sake of brevity I'll hit on a few of the hot, and honestly not so hot, moments of the show.

- The "main set" was just under 70 minutes long, and the band rolls out NINE songs over 2 encores. It is time, to either ditch the opening band, or go to two sets. I know the band is "passionate" and has high energy etc, but still, the business with leaving the stage for 2-3 minutes, with a catalog as vast as theirs, well I digress.

- Even flow, and Alive, even though "played out" are still money songs. The solo, both a Mike McCreedy guitar solo as well as a Matt Cameron drum solo were both as exciting as they were flashy..which sometimes can bore, but not tonight. Great work.

- Stand outs from the "main set" were also "Animal" and "Given to Fly"

For Encore 1 Ed and Bassist Jeff Ament took the stage, only Jeff took an acoustic guitar. McCreedy positioned himself near the drum kit with a video camera in hand and the the guys went into "Bee Girl". It was a very rare treat. Betterman->Garden and Why Go wrapped up that encore, and as stong as it was, imagine if they'd have kept "going" after the main set.

The Second encore began with "No More" with Ed solo. It was a massive sing along and Ed tossed out his political leaning and had a little bit of preachy moment, but he was overall pretty good about it. Once->Footsteps and Alive were to follow and the band would wrap it all up with "Rockin in the Free World" and they had Ted Leo come back on.

Here are a few more shots when Ed/Mike walked well over to my side:











The full set list:
Wash, Last Exit, Save You, Severed Hand, Animal, MFC, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, 1/2 Full, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Education, Satan's Bed, Whipping, Glorified G, Do The Evolution.
Encore 1 Bee Girl, Who You Are, Better Man(Save it for Later), Garden, Why Go
Encore 2 No More, Once, Footsteps, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World